Auditing system fears over tanker safety

Date: October 14 2013

Jacob Saulwick

The head of the new national organisation in charge of regulating large trucks has agreed with concerns raised about the standard of safety auditors following the double fatality in Sydney caused by an uncontrollable Cootes fuel tanker this month.

Safety recommendations made after a similar accident four years ago, in which four people, including two children, died when a fuel tanker rolled and burst into flames in NSW, have still not been implemented.

The report follows concerns voiced by NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay into the way in which safety checks are made for large transport companies like Cootes.

Mr Gay said some trucks that drive through NSW owned by companies such as Cootes are often regulated in other states, where the companies can ''pick and choose'' the private auditors that inspect the vehicles in their fleet.

Mr Gay wrote to the chairman of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Bruce Baird, last week asking him to conduct a review of the way other states sign off on truck maintenance.